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By Alison Kuznitz
State House News Service
A mentally ill man in state prison who pleaded guilty to second degree murder in 2004 is entitled to have state funds pay for a social-services advocate to put together a pre-release plan for his application for parole, the state's highest court has ruled.
Quasim Hastings is indigent, and his mental illness qualifies him for services funded by the state government under the Massachusetts Constitution's guarantee of "reasonable disability accommodations," the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said in a decision published Monday.